Edward Snowden hasn’t been seen on Thursday’s flight from Moscow to Cuba and has no ticket booked out of Russia over the next three days. With no valid passport, the NSA whistleblower might be stuck in airport limbo indefinitely.

The hot pursuit of Snowden has ground to a halt four days after
the former CIA technician, wanted in the US on espionage charges,
flew into Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport from Hong Kong.

He was not seen on the latest flight from Moscow to Havana, to
which he was reportedly going to before becoming stranded in
Russia, reports RT’s Irina Galushko, who is among the many
journalists hunting for the whistleblower at the airport’s
transit zone.

“Obviously he has to go to someplace which doesn’t require a
passport and not in friendly relations with the United States. So
Havana, Cuba, seems to be the most obvious choice,” she said.

He is expected to leave Russia eventually, with Ecuador, Cuba,
Venezuela and Ireland named among possible destinations.

Washington, which wants Snowden for leaking details of the
National Security Agency’s (NSA) dragnet telephone and Internet
surveillance programs, charges that there is a clear legal basis
for Moscow to hand him over.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who confirmed that Snowden had
arrived in Moscow as a transit passenger despite speculation to
the contrary, rebuffed US demands on Tuesday.

“We can only extradite any foreign citizens to such countries
with which we have signed the appropriate international
agreements on criminal extradition,” Putin said, adding that
as Snowden had committed no crime on Russian soil, he is free to
travel at will.
"Snowden is a free person. The sooner he chooses his final
destination, the better it is for him and Russia," Putin
continued.

However, the former NSA contractor appears to be staying put, as
neither him nor his WikiLeaks-affiliated legal adviser Sarah
Harrison have made travel plans over the coming days.

"They are not flying today and not over the next three
days," an Aeroflot representative at the transfer desk at
Sheremetyevo told Reuters.

"They are not in the system."

Snowden’s stopover in the transit zone at Sheremetyevo could be
prolonged indefinitely, as his passport, which was annulled by
the US on Saturday, leaves him without the necessary
documentation with which to travel, a source reportedly connected
with Snowden told Interfax.

“Snowden’s American passport is void and he is not in
possession of any other document with which he can prove his
identity. For this reason, he has to stay in Sheremetyevo’s
transit zone and cannot leave Russia nor buy a ticket,” the
source said.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange revealed that Snowden had been
given special refugee documents by the Ecuadorian government
which facilitated his travel to Russia. Still, the country's top
Foreign Ministry official, Galo Galarza said on Wednesday that
Ecuador has not granted Edward Snowden any refugee documents.

"He [Snowden] does not have a document issued by Ecuador, such
as a passport or a refugee card, as speculated," said
Galarza, as quoted by Ecuadorian television channel CT. So now it
is unclear whether the whistleblower can continue traveling at
all.

Snowden, who has applied for asylum in Ecuador, was expected to
make the next leg of his journey on Monday, as he had booked two
tickets to Havana, Cuba. Snowden never showed for the flight, and
according to RIA-Novosti, two tickets which he later booked for a
Tuesday flight to the Cuban capital were returned just hours
before departure. The next flight to Havana leaves on Wednesday.

If he ever makes it to Cuba, the next stop in his journey would
be Caracas, Venezuela. President Nicolas Maduro, who
coincidentally is expected in Moscow next week for an energy
summit, has said Caracas would also consider an asylum request
from the whistleblower.

Although dozens of Moscow-based journalists have been staked out
at the airport since Sunday, not a single image of Snowden has
surfaced.

A receptionist at the Air Express Capsule Hotel in Terminal E of
Sheremetyevo Airport told RIA-Novosti that Snowden had in fact
spent several hours in one of the suites, “but left a long
time ago.”

Several journalists attempted to make contact with Snowden during
his stay at the hotel, but were unsuccessful, the hotel employee
continued.

It has been speculated that Snowden, who remains at an
undisclosed location within the transit zone, is purposely being
held up by Russian security services for interrogation.

WikiLeaks has refuted the accusation, saying Harrison "is
escorting him at all times."